Needs assessment has evolved into one of the core methodological domains addressed
by general texts in evaluation (e.g., Fitzpatrick et al. 2011; Posavac 2011; Rossi et al.
2004), as well as by books devoted exclusively to the topic (e.g., Soriano 2013; Witkin
and Altschuld 1995). Understandably, these works tend to emphasize the technical
aspects of needs assessment, that is, the methodological procedures used to produce a
valid and reliable appraisal of the Bnature, magnitude, and distribution of a social
problem; the extent to which there is a need for intervention; and the implications of
these circumstances for the design of the intervention^